Startled, Mary took a sharp breath and instinctively reared back. “My lord,” she eventually managed, though her heartbeat refused to slow and her voice sounded quite out of breath. “I did not see you.”
The edge of his mouth curved into a menacing smile. “Forgive me, my lady. It was not my intention to frighten you.”
Clearly not, Mary thought as she took a few small steps away from him. He followed her though, his strides longer than hers and swiftly closing the distance between them. “What do you want?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Raising an eyebrow, he studied her a moment before saying, “I do believe that I have made that quite obvious, but let me tell you again; I wantyou, Lady Mary. I want your hand in marriage, and I daresay that I now have the means by which to convince you to accept my offer.”
Aiming for a blank expression that she hoped would convince him otherwise, she said, in a voice far calmer than she felt, “I have absolutely no idea about what you might be referring to, my lord.”
He leaned closer, likening her to a child about to be reprimanded by an adult. “Is that so,Lucia Cavalani?” His voice was a sneer, filled with vehemence, and Mary knew then that getting what he wanted was the only thing that mattered to him. He was like a spoilt child throwing a tantrum over a toy that he was being denied. Except it wasn’t exactly a tantrum. It was something far more dangerous than that.
“Who?” Mary asked, feigning ignorance. She could think of no other course of action than to deny his claim.
“I would caution you not to take me for a fool, Lady Mary.” His hand curled tightly around her wrist, twisting her skin until it burned. “Accept defeat and we can still try to make the most out of our marriage. Fight me, and I will make certain that you hate every moment of it.” With a hard yank, he pulled her into his arms, the impact forcing the air from her lungs. “Now then,” he murmured, “how about a kiss?”
Try as she might, Mary couldn’t escape his hold. His arms were like bands of steel around her body, holding her firmly in place. “I will never be yours,” she told him fiercely. But the panic of somebody else arriving in the hallway and discovering her in such a compromising position was very acute. Terrified, she tried kicking him instead. But even though her feet made contact with his legs, her efforts seemed to have no effect on him.
Instead, he merely grinned, his eyes holding a wild gleam that sent a chill to Mary’s bones. “Oh yes you will,” he said, “because unless you agree to become my wife, I will tell the world that you have done something as disgraceful as sing at the opera. Everyone will know that you have been cavorting with other men’s mistresses, and that will make them wonder if you are even as innocent as you are meant to be. Perhaps, in disguise, you have been tempted to do certain things...”
His hand moved to her breast, his mouth descended over hers, and for one frightening second, Mary knew that she was doomed. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that her life had evolved into a hellish nightmare from which there would be no chance of escape. He was simply too strong and far too determined, not to mention that they were in a public place. Other guests would be retiring soon. They would see her in a most inappropriate position with Rotridge. Her aunt would be informed, and then...
The hold on her suddenly lessened and, looking up, Mary saw that Rotridge’s eyes had gone wide with surprise. In the next instant, he was thrust aside, completely removed from her vicinity as a cloaked figure wearing a mask bore down on him. Richard’s fist flew through the air, landing squarely in Rotridge’s jaw, the impact producing a loudthwack!
Rotridge yelped, like a puppy that had just been stepped on. But then, as if realizing what had occurred, he straightened his spine and stood his ground, glaring back at his assailant. “You are very brave, hiding behind that mask of yours. Show yourself, you coward.”
“I will do so when I am ready,” Richard replied. “At present, I am only interested in discussing your reluctance to stay away from Lady Mary as you were specifically told to do.”
“And I might have continued doing so had I not discovered an interesting detail about her. Now that I know what she is, you no longer have the right to make demands. Either she does as I say, or I tell the world about her secret identity.”
With a feral growl, Richard leapt toward Rotridge, delivering another blow to the earl’s nose that resulted in an ugly crunching sound of cartilage breaking. Blood ran down over his upper lip before dripping onto his chin and from there, staining his cravat. But rather than accept defeat, Rotridge’s eyes burned with increased fury. Retrieving his handkerchief, he held it to his nose as he stared defiantly back at Richard. “I will find out who you are as well, and once I do, I shall call you out. In the meantime, however, you will have to kill me in order to silence me.”
“A tempting prospect,” Richard murmured, his body positioned protectively between Mary and Rotridge.
“But one that you will not follow through with or I daresay you would have attempted it already.” Chuckling, Rotridge executed a bow. “A pleasure as always, Lady Mary.Signor Antonio.” Without lingering for another moment, he turned on his heels and strode away, his mad laughter echoing through the hallway as he went.
“Are you all right?” Richard asked as he turned to face Mary, concern evident in the depths of his eyes.
“I believe so,” she said. Rotridge was gone, replaced by the man she loved. But despite the relief that she felt, apprehension wound itself around her so tightly that she feared she might suffocate from it. “Thank you for helping.” The faint sound of voices approaching drifted toward them. “I should probably return to my bedchamber before someone sees us together.”
With a nod, he stepped back and executed a perfect bow. “You must not fret over Rotridge, Mary. I will protect you from him by whatever means necessary. You have my word on that.”
Attempting a smile, Mary thanked him again before hurrying toward her bedchamber. She knew that he meant what he said. The only problem was that if Rotridge did indeed follow through on his threat, Mary doubted that Richard would be able to protect her from her aunt.
Chapter12
When Mary awoke the following morning, it took an enormous amount of effort for her to get out of bed and dress. In fact, all she wanted to do was to go back to sleep so she could avoid the nightmare that undoubtedly waited for her downstairs. To her surprise, however, her aunt appeared to be in a very pleasant mood. There was no indication at all that Rotridge might have spoken to her or revealed anything to incur her anger.
Eventually, Mary decided that her worries had been completely unfounded and focused on her breakfast instead while her aunt spoke happily about another conversation she’d had with the great Mr.Young, as she was now prone to calling him. “Oh, I completely forgot to tell you,” she said after chewing on a bite of toast. “Lord Rotridge left Thorncliff this morning.”
Mary jerked at the mention of the earl’s name, effectively spilling her tea. “Really?”
Lady Foxworth nodded. “I thought that you would like to know since you did voice some concerns about him.”
“Of course,” she said, blinking. This was simply too good to be true. Surely.
“Now, I know that you and I have not spent much time together lately,” Lady Foxworth continued, changing the subject as if it held no more importance than the weather, “so perhaps you would like to take a ride into the village with me today. We can have a look at the shops, perhaps visit a teahouse?”
Mary nodded. “I think that sounds like a lovely idea. But what about Mr.Young?”
